One of the top stories of 2005 is the rebirth of ECW. 2005 was littered with new DVD’s and events extolling the memory of this great promotion. The best of all the ECW related merchandise in 2005 was saved for last. Turning the Tables by John Lister is the first book ever published about ECW.
Background
I have to admit; if not for ECW I probably would have stopped watching wrestling in the mid 90’s. ECW was a radically different promotion than what was available at the time. It was designed to give the fans what they wanted without insulting their intelligence. This book honors the memory of ECW in that sense. Unlike other ECW DVD’s recently released, it does not try to rewrite history to make any particular wrestlers or promotions look good.
This book made me relive the glory days of the promotion. If you never experienced ECW, the author describes the action in such a way that you feel as though you were there. The information provided by the author can be appreciated by both the newbie to ECW and the long time fans. The detail of information provided by the author is unmatched by any other wrestling book.
Giving all sides of the story
Unlike many books that only give the authors view of a controversial subject, the author gives the opinions of all those affected by the event and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions. The best examples of this are the Mass Transit incident and the mole story.
Does the book have any problems?
The only problem with the book is that since the author is from England, some of the spelling and formatting of dates are in the British English style. In an odd way, this kind of gives class to a company where that word has never been associated.
Overall Recommendation
If not for the some of the mature themes ECW was notorious for, I would have had no problem putting this in the upper half of my 2005 gift guide. If you are a former fan who wants to chant ECW one more time, you must buy this book. If you are new to wrestling and are wondering what all the fuss about ECW was about, this is the best place to start your journey. Recommendation: Buy with parental consent.
